All the African representatives on the 15-member United Nations Security Council, Congo (Brazzaville), Ghana and Tanzania recently agreed that travel and financial sanctions should be slapped on four individuals suspected of involvement in atrocities in the Darfur province of Sudan.
In a United States-sponsored resolution, the council decided that all countries should take measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of the four restricted people. States are also obliged to freeze all funds, assets and other economic resources in their territories that are owned or controlled by these individuals.
The four are: Major General Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan, a former commander of the western military region for the Sudanese Air Force; Sheikh Musa Hilal, paramount chief of the Jalul ethnic group in North Darfur; Adam Yacub Shant, a commander in the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA); and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri, a field commander of the rebel National Movement for Reform and Development.
The editor of the Khartoum Monitor newspaper, Alfred Taban, said the UN move was a ”small step”. ”These are not senior commanders. The Sudanese Air Force commander is already retired; Gabril is the commander of a very small rebel faction and the SLA commander is relatively low in rank.”
David Monyae of the University of Witwatersrand’s international relations department, however, felt it was a ”good start” and an indication that Sudan is still on the UN agenda.
”Symbolically it sends a strong message to those who are blocking the peace process. One hopes that the sanctions imposed on the individuals are not an end in themselves.”
Analyst Ayesha Kajee of the South African Institute of International Affairs described the resolution as ”considered”. ”The decision will serve in some ways to deter future atrocities. I don’t think it will stop the violence, but the decision will mitigate it.”
Additional reporting by Irin News